Chapter 2
I was telling the truth. Someone else had poisoned Prince Xiang’s heir.
All I’d given him was an aphrodisiac.
My drug wouldn’t kill him. It would merely bring him pleasure…
His Majesty’s mouth twitched. My display of “filial devotion” had clearly stunned him.
Father hurried forward to speak for me. “Your Majesty, Jindan and I share a deep bond as father and daughter. If she says that, she surely can’t have done it!”
I nodded like a chick pecking at grain.
“Exactly! Everyone knows I’ve admired the heir for ages. How could I bear to poison him?”
His Majesty sneered. “If you admire him, you don’t seem particularly grieved by what’s happened.”
“Your Majesty, I admired his youthful, handsome face. I never intended to suffer the sorrow of being parted by death.”
“Speak plainly!”
“I liked his face, that’s all. Now he’s dead, I’ll find another pretty one to admire!”
I had stunned His Majesty again.
He stared blankly for a moment before pointing at me and snapping at Father, “Luo Qinghe! Is this how you raise your daughter?”
Father loudly protested his innocence.
“She doesn’t get that from me!
“All my life, I have been loyal as a dog and faithful as a wild goose.
“My devotion will never waver. Yunniang alone holds my heart!”
Blushing and indignant, Mother jabbed Father.
“My lord! What are you saying in front of all these people?”
Father gazed at her tenderly. “Yunniang, every word is true!”
“My lord!”
“Yunniang!”
Those two were nauseating!
“Your Majesty, why don’t you just take me for the murderer and cut my head off?” I said expressionlessly. “They don’t seem to care much about me anyway.”
“All of you, shut up!”
His Majesty apparently had no words left for our family. He handed the questioning over to the vice minister.
“Miss Luo, why did you leave the hall? Where did you go, and what did you do? Please tell me everything, however small.”
I thought for a moment. “His Majesty was giving a rousing account of his valor during the southern campaign. My stomach churned, and I suddenly needed to shit.”
I clasped my hands apologetically toward His Majesty.
“Your Majesty, it was a personal digestive issue. It had nothing to do with you.
“Your stories of the southern campaign are wonderful. My whole family loves hearing them.”
His Majesty ignored me, so I continued.
“After leaving the hall, I went to the privy to attend to an urgent matter.
“Then I came out and went to the rear hall… to have something to eat.”
“You went to the rear hall?!”
The vice minister grew stern. “Was eating really all you did? Can anyone corroborate your story?”
I scratched my head. “There weren’t many people there. I don’t know whether they saw me.”
“Why was the rear hall unattended?” His Majesty sat up. “Where had everyone gone?”
Chief Eunuch Zhang immediately answered, “Your Majesty, somehow the pile of firewood for roasting the meat suddenly collapsed. I sent the rear-hall staff to help tidy it up.”
His Majesty had taken quite a haul on the hunting grounds that day. He had arranged this banquet to show off…
No, to share the joy of his abundant harvest.
If not for the trouble with Prince Xiang’s heir, a bonfire would already have been blazing outside, with skewers of meat sizzling over it.
We would have sat beside that lovely warm fire, listening to His Majesty reminisce about the old days…
I swallowed my drool.
The heir really had picked an inconvenient time to die!
“Check the soles of their shoes! Whoever has wood chips on them is the murderer!”
In a flash of inspiration, Father slapped his thigh.
“The culprit must have deliberately kicked over the firewood to draw everyone away and make it easier to commit the crime.”
His Majesty looked astonished. “Luo Qinghe, you’ve actually had a clever thought!”
Father grinned. “I’ve always been clever and wise.”
His Majesty waved a hand. Several elderly matrons immediately pressed the five of us onto chairs and inspected our soles.
“Your Majesty, we found wood chips on the second Miss Luo’s shoes and Miss Liu’s.”
Father stopped smiling at once. My sister had been caught.
“Your Majesty, I don’t think whoever kicked over the wood must necessarily be the murderer. Perhaps they simply couldn’t keep their foot to themselves!”